1. I was meeting with someone in a coaching session and she used the phrase, “He can find the bone in an egg,” to describe someone she admired.

Perhaps you have heard the phrase before but this was my first opportunity to hear it and it’s been on my mind daily.

We know the Father knows us from the womb. He knows all about our bones and what they will become. But there’s more about this expression that challenges me.

I believe Christians are called to love one another and see the great potential in one another. As we speak words of life, I can think of no better content than to speak about the good we see in others. 

There are more than enough list makers that tell us about our weaknesses and faults. We need more people to see the bones of potential and speak into it.

2. One day last week, I commented to someone that I was tired from a long week of producing content and executing strategies. What I heard next is something I need to hear every day:

 “You may be tired but you’re not empty.”

I’m thankful for a cup that overflows.

3. I’m always excited for the opportunity to interview Kimberly Jones. She’s an author, pastor, speaker, and full-time encourager in the faith. You may know her as Real Talk Kim (RTK). I have the blessing to interview her a few times a year. I always look forward to her because I know she will help my podcast audience in so many ways. She can say more in one breath that I can I offer with a 30-minute warm-up.

So I heard her tell me about a season in which she was allowing the Lord to help her reassemble her life:

“A majority of my life, I beat myself up. From the time I was in kindergarten when I could start rationalizing the difference between people, I would just always beat myself up. Then I was raised in this religion that basically taught me that women were just created to have babies. I became like a victim in my own story. And then I found myself jumping ahead of God, creating my own storms, and being mad at God every time it rained. And then when I was around 36 years old, I had to move back home with mom and dad because my 17 years of marriage ended. And I was devastated.”

If you are reading this newsletter and find your favorite hobby is beating on the image in the mirror, please listen to my interview with RTK here. Choose Change.

4. I heard about another miracle life transformation during my interview with former major league baseball star, Darryl Strawberry. Darryl hit 390 major league home runs during his highly successful baseball career. But he struggled mightily in his personal life and the Lord rescued him from a life of searching for answers to his never-ending personal hurt.

The Lord spoke to Darryl, long after he was saved and involved in ministry, about his bitterness toward his father who rejected him.

“I’m about to do Saturday men’s conference in California, and my father is in a hospital in San Diego. The Lord spoke to me on a Friday night to go to my father. ‘And I want you to never say anything to him about what he did to you, I want you to go to him. And I want you to repent to him, and ask him to forgive you for keeping you keeping him out of your life.’

“And I was like, ‘God, are you serious?’ And he was dead serious. And I called my wife (she’s a pastor) and she prayed over me. And she said, ‘You need to do what God says. If He’s spoken to you like that, you need to do what He’s called you to do.’ So I went there on Sunday. And as soon as I saw my father I said, ‘You know, the Lord has changed my life. And I just need to ask you to forgive me for me keeping you out of my life. Would you forgive me?’ And a big tear came down his eye. And he said, ‘Yes.’ And I just lost it.”

The best news in this story is that Darryl led his father to the Lord prior to his passing. I think you will enjoy this podcast. There are many stories to share.

5. Cindy Stewart told me a story of divine intervention as she was preparing to start her morning jog:

“I was at the park the other day. I’m sitting in my car, drinking my coffee about to go for a run. And there’s a young man doing push-ups but he’s got a boot on his foot. And I can feel the Lord leading me to go pray over him. I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to drink my coffee and I was going to go for a run, but yes, Lord.’

“I got out of the car. I began to talking to him. I asked him if I could pray for him. He was a believer. As I prayed, his foot got better and better and better. And he was like, ‘I can’t believe it.’ And God just made room for this miracle and I drank all of my coffee, and still got my run in.”

Don’t you love it when God interrupts our day with an interruption of healing?
If you don’t know Cindy Stewart (she’s on the Charisma Podcast Network), visit her website here and get to know her.

As we happily turn the calendar page to 2021, it’s a good time to consider our ways. Even though we should always start our new year tomorrow morning, I get especially excited about the process of planning a new year. But the process excites me more than the actual planning.

Any process begins with proper tools. For example, I have an amazing collection of fountain pens. Last year I returned to my first love and resolved to only write with fountain pens.

Last January, my desk was peppered with 12 blank journals. For some reason, blank journals at my fingertips bring me peace.

This is also the time of year that I heavy-up my reading plan. Three books I recently read include:

The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch. This is the third edition of the classic book that laid out the Pareto Principle. I assigned it to my classes for many years. The update addresses the move toward 90/10 or even 99/1.

Born for Significance by Bill Johnson. This quote continues to inform my plans for 2021: “We must first discover our insignificance to discover our significance, knowing there is nothing we can do to save ourselves or improve our lives in light of eternity apart from God.” One of my personal margin notes is “self-improvement comes through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The Scribe by James Goll. “Journaling is a strategic tool that has been used throughout the generations as a means of capturing and retaining special moments, special thoughts, special prayers and special revelations in a personal manner,” Goll writes. His book has reenergized me to journal as I study the Word every morning.

“Journaling is not a boring task. Oh no! Journaling is full of adventure and life,” Goll writes. “It has at least three different expressions: 1) Devotional; 2) Revelatory and 3) Historical. So whether journaling is used to increase your personal devotional life with God or used as a tool to retain dreams and visions or recording lessons from life, each style and format is very important.”

I believe Goll’s teaching, “revelation comes through journaling.”

“My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer” (Ps. 45:1b, NASB). Goll divides this verse into three logical parts. (The next section has been adapted from his book.)

“My heart overflows with a good theme.” “Is your heart overflowing? When your heart is overflowing with God’s goodness, it is looking for a place and a people to impact.”

“I address my verses to the King.” As you journal through devotions, you will find inspiration and direction as you follow the King.

“My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” It is a unique experience to create flow with the Father as we write words of praise to Him and receive a tap of the shepherd’s staff, then write what we hear. As the ink pours across the pages of my journal, I recognize with gratitude what a gift it is to communicate through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I write freely in my journals because I know no one will ever read what I scribble. On some mornings, I have trouble getting started. I don’t believe in writer’s block so I’ve learned to respond to prompts to start the flow. Here are five helpful prompts:

One takeaway I received from this morning’s Bible reading is …

I feel God is leading me to …

One area in which I’m praying for transformation is …

The Lord is leading me to talk to __________ about __________ .

I’ve been keeping this from my journal …

There is so much to write about as we begin this year filled with hope. We are “hidden under the shadow of His wings” and have nothing to fear. Dot your desk with a few journals and plenty of pens. Sing a new song unto the Lord. {eoa}

Dr. Steve Greene is the publisher and executive vice president of the multimedia group at Charisma Media and executive producer of the Charisma Podcast Network. His Charisma House book, Love Leads, shows that without love, you cannot be an effective leader. Sign up for his free “5 Things I Learned Last Week” and “Greenelines” newsletters, and download his Greenelines and At Work With God podcasts at .

This article was excerpted from the December issue of Charisma magazine. If you don’t subscribe to Charisma, click here to get every issue delivered to your mailbox. During this time of change, your subscription is a vote of confidence for the kind of Spirit-filled content we offer. In the same way you would support a ministry with a donation, subscribing is your way to support Charisma. Also, we encourage you to give gift subscriptions at , and share our articles on social media.

As COVID-19 continues to tighten its grip on personal freedom throughout the world, many people are living in survival mode.

In my recent interview with Pastor Sam Rodriguez, he deployed a biblical metaphor to describe our plight. He said, “Every single person on this planet is either in Egypt, the desert or the promised land. The majority of people do not die in Egypt. They die in the desert, in failure mode. The vast majority of people never make it out of the desert; they die in survival mode.”

In his new book, From Survive to Thrive, Rodriguez writes a prescription to escape the desert and move on to the promised land.

“Survivors pray, ‘Lord, bless me,’ while thrivers pray, ‘Lord make me a blessing,'” Rodriguez said. “Survivors constantly pray, ‘Lord, answer my prayers,’ while thrivers pray, ‘Lord, make me the answer to someone else’s prayer.’

“There is a clear difference between survivors and thrivers,” he said. “It’s so powerful and transformational. The moment we embrace it, we will never be the same again.”

There comes a time when we all must realize we are our own worst enemy. We make hard days harder and minimize good days. Our self-limiting thoughts corral our hope.

Rodriguez said, “You are your own lid, the primary lid. All other lids have been addressed. Every lid that comes from the pit of hell, Christ took care of through the cross and Resurrection. We are perfectly victorious through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ over all things and circumstances. That victory is perfect in Christ.”

“So, who’s our lid?” he asked. “The man in the mirror. It’s the way you’re thinking, your way of believing. Are you driven by what you see rather than what you believe? The moment your belief system lines up with God’s Word, the lid is removed and you will do nothing less than thrive.” he said.

Pastor Sam’s prescription has unlimited refills. Listen to the entire episode of Greenelines featuring our Spirit-filled conversation at this link. {eoa}

The first step to understanding why we do what we don’t want to do begins with probing the root cause of the behavior.

Most of us exercise regular opportunities to repent from spreading a story we heard about a friend, neighbor or colleague. As we toss and turn in bed, trying to understand why our tongue betrayed us, answers evade us, and we pray for strength to do better tomorrow.

Mark Travers reported in Psychology Today that the average person gossips 52 minutes per day. Travers cited research that concludes “sanctions against gossip may be futile and underscores the importance of understanding gossip at a descriptive level.”

Researchers define three categories of gossip:

—Positive: flattery oriented.

—Neutral: neutral observations about others.

—Negative: malicious commentary.

The researchers concluded that 75% of all gossip fits the category of nonevaluative or neutral.

In a recent episode of the Greenelines podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network with author Susannah B. Lewis, we discussed many topics from her book, How May I Offend You Today? Lewis offers “rants and revelations from a not-so-proper Southern lady,” and opines with great clarity about “nipping gossip in the bud.”

Lewis said, “Nipping the gossip bud is so hard to do, especially in these small Southern towns. I’ve been caught up in some of the juiciest gossip while sitting on the bleachers at a ballfield. Then, I always ask myself, ‘What? What just happened?'”

The answer to Lewis’ question always comes from the Holy Spirit. Psychologists describe and categorize, but the Spirit of God brings conviction.

“I will tell you that I have conviction every time I run my mouth,” Lewis said. “I thank God for His conviction—for that nudge to repent. Without that, I would be a mess. We all hear so many things, and we have this desire to run and tell everyone what we know. I say to the Lord, ‘I can’t spread this; it must stop with me.’ I want to be more conscious of the words I share. I know we crave that juicy talk and love the excitement to share goodies with others. I don’t want to be a person who causes more harm than good.”

As we all pray to the Lord to help us “let no corrupt communication proceed out of [our] mouth” (Eph. 4:29a, KJV) we must pray in the Spirit to defeat the flesh.

“For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no gossiper, quarreling quiets down” (Prov. 26:20, NASB).

For more wisdom about taming the gossip monster from author Susannah B. Lewis, listen to the entire episode of Greenelines here. {eoa}

1. From the book Fifteen Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse, I heard:

 “We always underestimate how hard it is to be our best self in the present moment.”

 The book is priced at $ on Kindle. I do not earn affiliate fees.

2. Bill Johnson wrote in his book, Born for Significance, that there is “nothing we can do to save ourselves or improve our lives in light of eternity apart from God.”

I highly recommend this book.

So, take these principles of time management from Kruse and Johnson to the Lord for proper anointing.

3. I heard this on a podcast this week:

“Process saves us from the poverty of intention.”

When we focus our intention on outcomes, we miss the scalability of systems thinking. The process of getting there—wherever that is—should be worth planning, executing, and memorializing.

The thought of intentions as poverty inducing is convicting.

4. During a meeting with 2 great friends, I heard one person refer to the other’s “visionary wake.” I thought about these words for days. Here are a few takeaways to consider when following a true visionary:

* Never a dull moment

* Sometimes the wake overtakes us

* Sometimes the wake floats our boat

* Who needs sleep anyway?

* Today won’t be like yesterday

* Risk is not a variable of influence

* Lives change

5. Sean Feucht is a leader worth hearing in the kingdom. I just heard about a new film he has released titled Let Us Worship. Sean is a world changer.

Here’s a link to one of his powerful worship songs, “Wild One” from his album WILD. Love like Jesus. Wild and untamed.

Find more of my writing and yapping on my website, my Greenelines blog, and my podcast.

Here are 5 things I heard last week through podcast interviews, reading and research that are worthy to be shared with you:

1. “Why?” is a question that is rarely answered with satisfying words. The words aren’t enough. Last week during a Greenelines podcast, Solomon Mekonnen explained the problem through the experience of Moses as he studied the burning bush.

As Moses came close to the bush and attempted to discover why the bush was burning but not consuming the bush. The Lord cautioned Moses. “He said, ‘Do not approach here. Remove your sandals from off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground'” (Exodus 3:5).

Life’s mysteries are often holy ground. For now, we know in part. It helps me to understand that some things are to be respected as holy ground in this present age.

2. I often think about my thought bubbles. If my thoughts were revealed, like the thoughts of comic book characters, would I be more careful to guard my thoughts? I heard someone say last week that “to harbor grievances is to lessen one’s own character.” Imagine if our thought bubbles revealed what we harbor.

3. The summer might be over, but the adverse effect of the pandemic on marriages continues. Just this October, a law firm has reported an increase in phone call traffic of over 70 percent compared to last year. Most researchers conclude that as we spend more time together it’s not as easy to mask pent-up emotions and feelings.
It’s probably not surprising to note that the divorce rate in Christian marriages is as high as the national divorce rate.

4. As I continued to study Berin Gilfillan’s Pursuing Maturity, I was challenged to consider what my eyes can see right in front of me. We often fail to pursue what is readily available for the asking. Opportunity is not as important as appetite. Are you in relentless pursuit of anything?

5. I heard “Overcomer” last week thanks to my interview with Kim Dolan Leto. It brought back memories of worshipping with this song while I was at Oral Roberts University. Listen to this powerful music by Mandisa. You’ll feel victorious in just a minute! 

If you haven’t downloaded my Growing in Leadership 4-Day challenge on eBook, click here and wait for the pop-up window. Thanks!

Eve was guilty of picking a forbidden fruit, but many of us are guilty of sin-picking on a daily basis. It’s so easy to focus on the sin of others and totally miss the gifts and calling of the sinner.

Bible teacher and commentary writer Solomon Mekonnen was my guest on a recent Greenelines podcast, and we discussed the life of Eve and what many Christians miss about her.

Solomon told me, “The story and the narrative about Eve is probably one of the most misunderstood or wrongly labeled facts of biblical history, because we simply pick up only the last aspect of what she did on her way out of paradise. We only know her as Eve who was the initial cause for the fall. And I do think that is a disservice and absolutely the wrong perception. I’m not saying she wasn’t the cause of the fall, but that’s not what she is all about. My interest was sort of triggered in this when I was making another study on knowing the purpose for which we are created. I think one of the greatest problems that we all have as human beings is we don’t really understand who we are. We know our names and our identities and all that. But from the divine purpose point of view, most of us struggle and don’t take time to prayerfully and spiritually seek and search.

“We see how God gives us the reason why He created Eve,” Mekonnen continued. “He created Eve to be a helpmate to Adam. He created her to meet a need, to complement Adam. If you talk to most men, or just listen to conversations, few people look at Eve as a complementary creation, as one who was given to us by God to meet a need to take away the loneliness. And so that simply means without Eve, we are incomplete. Adam was incomplete.

“We deny the fact that God created Eve. We fail to call to remembrance that she was created for a glorious and a wonderful purpose—to come to Adam, to be his helpmate and, in that aspect, to be the mother of all the living. When Adam woke up from the deep sleep and was sort of recovering from the surgery, he saw her, and immediately he recognized that point and said, ‘Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bones, and you shall be called Eve.’ So, the point there is with Adam, the first thing he realized is that she was a gift to him from God, to complement him, to fulfill him and to become his helpmate. And so she is an image bearer, a steward, and she is uniquely a helpmate, complementary that he might be complete,” Solomon said.

Time hasn’t changed much. Women today still feel misunderstood and slighted for their contributions in the church, Mekonnen agreed.

“That has been the case over the years, over the centuries,” he said. “But simply because we have focused on the fall and we forgot the original purpose for which Eve is created, we have actually caused pain and suffering on women and hurt her daughters, as the generations continue to do so. And they, for the most part, and in most of the different periods of human existence, continued still to be the helpmates and to do the work of raising a family and supporting the husband.”

1. I heard about a new faith-based movie coming out this week. The Trump I Know is not a biography of Trump but rather a moving story about those who know Trump in ways we probably never will. The creative staff for the movie interviewed 31 people who know him best. If you’d like to hear my interview with the film’s producers, you can access the podcast here. 

  (Season 6 Ep. 178)

2. I missed the news about the passing of Terry Law last month but heard the sad news from Dr. Berin Gilfillan as he paid tribute to Terry in our podcast about Legends. I knew Terry from my days of work at Oral Roberts University. I’ve listened to many of his teachings, most of them on cassette tape. I loved his depth. I worked with a group of students at ORU in a project to purchase tennis shoes for Terry’s ministry in Iraq. The desert sands are tough on kids and their shoes. The students shipped a few thousand pairs of shoes to Terry’s ministry and his mission. I’ll miss Terry and his fire to share the Gospel.

3. I heard a new word used by Angela Donadio as a title for her book, Astounded. We have a shortage of words to describe how we feel about a move of the Lord. Whether it comes as a miracle or the simple nudge of His staff to let us know He is near, we often feel like words can’t describe any experience with God. The word of choice for at least the past decade has been “awesome.” The adjective wiggled its way into mainstream chatter to describe the mundane and the magnificent. The word even accented Christian choruses and worship lyrics. So, I maxed out at one jumping jack, to celebrate a fresh expression for the work of the Lord. Donadio’s book is full of 52 devotionals that remind readers to savor everyday moments with an awareness of the astounding. Every moment with the Lord is intentional by design. She told my podcast audience to “keep your eyes peeled for a miracle.” Journal the astounding moments of every day.

Need a new journal? I’ve been using the journal linked below for almost 2 years. The quality of the paper is perfect for my fountain pens—the ink doesn’t bleed unless I get carried away with underlining. The journal has a soft cover and is 130 lined pages. It even has two ribbons for marking your place and a pocket in the back. The best news is you get 2 journals for 16 dollars. I am not compensated for your purchase.

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4. I heard a verse from R.T. Kendall last week that is probably the best description of our collective experience during COVID-19. In Joshua 3:4, he cautioned, “You have not passed this way before.” In Dr. Kendall’s new book, titled We’ve Never Been This Way Before, we learned that our new normal will depend upon how we respond to the Lord during this pause. God knows where we have been and where we are going. Kendall warned my podcast audience that “our new normal is that nothing will be normal again.”

 5. I had a powerful telephone conversation with David Bryant about his ministry and book, Christ is Now. He shared from 2 Corinthians 1:17-22:

Do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”? But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” … That’s because no matter how many promises God has made, they remain “Yes” to us in Christ. … Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit – thus, guaranteeing what is to come.

In what way is the Lord asking you to say yes? Has the Holy Spirit asked you to “Come?”

Just when it seems we need it most, empathy appears in decline throughout the world, particularly in the 21st century. When we exhibit high empathy, we behave with compassion and easily experience someone else’s point of view.

Empathetic behavior doesn’t occur by force. It is an internal response to the needs and feelings of others.

As we look over our shoulders at simpler times, does it seem we demonstrated more or less empathy? We can blame the coronavirus for this malady as we do so many other things, but perhaps the virus has only slowed us down enough to observe our diminished focus on others.

One of our feature stories this month, “Stand in the Gap Against Racism,” reminded me of a recent Greenelines podcast interview with Bishop Joseph Walker of Nashville, Tennessee. He and I discussed empathy in this season of racial unrest. He told me, “There can be no empathy until you are fully informed. I think what we are seeing is often misdiagnosed. We now have the opportunity to have serious discussions, to look at the history of a situation and place it in proper context.”

Bishop Walker spoke about the empathy needed to understand racial divides.

“A lot of folks did not grow up around others who did not look like them,” he said. “So they are limited. They have no contextual awareness of what it means to live in those particular neighborhoods, to experience the kind of racism and oppression that others experienced.

“They want to, but it’s hard until they have those conversations,” he told me. “And then, of course, I’ve seen folks who just absolutely don’t want to get it, who just continue to carry the stereotypes and misinformation about why people are the way they are. There are incredibly kindhearted people out there who really want to get it right who say, in all honesty, ‘I just don’t know.’

“This is a perfect opportunity to be a student of this, and it’s an opportunity to realize if you could just sit back and listen to your brothers and sisters of a different hue, you would learn so much about what it’s like to be in their skin and what it’s like to experience what they’ve had to experience, not just in their lifetime, but the ancestors as well.”

Empathy often leads to action. Walker spoke about an important program in Nashville designed to accelerate unity.

“The Lord allowed us to create Nashville Unite,” he said. “We pulled together a combination of influencers, police captains, political leaders, judges and many others who joined us for a meaningful conversation. People came to hear, and we heard. Hearing is so important. If you don’t hear me, then you might see me in other ways.

“We gave people an opportunity to come alongside and partner with us to help the community. We are also involved with the school system. We must get involved to solve the problems of our community. Talking about it is not enough. You must come alongside folks if you really want to do something and solve problems.”

Walker spoke about what I see Jesus modeling throughout the Gospels. He did not preach at people; instead, He came alongside them in both word and deed. The very name Isaiah prophesied of Him, “Immanuel,” or “God with us” (Isa. 7:14b) speaks of this. And of course in the Greek, the Holy Spirit is known as the parakletos or “Comforter,” “one who comes alongside.”

What has comforted me most during this prolonged season of discomfort is the presence of the Comforter, who calls us to “come alongside” others. Maybe that’s why there are 59 “one another” statements in the New Testament, including:

—Have peace with one another (Mark 9:50b).

—”Love one another” (John 13:34, 35; John 15:12, 17).

—”Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; prefer one another in honor” (Rom. 12:10).

It should come as no surprise that you can’t “one another” alone.

I took away from my time with Walker an improved understanding of empathy. As he told me, “What diminishes you, diminishes me, and what hurts you, hurts me.”

Dr. Steve Greene is the publisher and executive vice president of the multimedia group at Charisma Media and executive producer of the Charisma Podcast Network. His Charisma House book, Love Leads, shows that without love, you cannot be an effective leader. Download his Greenelines podcast at .

This article was excerpted from the November issue of Charisma magazine. If you don’t subscribe to Charisma, click here to get every issue delivered to your mailbox. During this time of change, your subscription is a vote of confidence for the kind of Spirit-filled content we offer. In the same way you would support a ministry with a donation, subscribing is your way to support Charisma. Also, we encourage you to give gift subscriptions at , and share our articles on social media.

The phrase “new normal” has almost become colloquial.

Most of us have arrived at this conclusion escorted by Captain Obvious.

Like the suit I wore at my wedding in 1973, I don’t expect to walk that way again. I believe we all sense that many things have changed and will continue to change.

R.T. Kendall’s newest book is rich with an explanation of why we must change our ways.

“I’ve been thinking about Joshua’s word to the children of Israel,” Kendall said. “They were preparing to enter Canaan, the promised land. Then God spoke through Joshua to say, ‘You’ve never been this way before.'”

“Those words gripped me. I thought, how sweet of the Lord to talk like that. And yet, it’s so scary. Let’s just know that God knows where we’ve been. He knows where we’re going. And He’s with us. It was just such a comforting word. Then I realized this is where we are in America, where we are right now, even as we speak today. We’ve never been this way before. People are still saying, when’s the next one? We’ve got to have normality again. And I honestly fear that the new normal is that nothing will be normal again,” Kendall said.

I interviewed Dr. Kendall on the Greenelines podcast about his book We’ve Never Been This Way Before. He told me about the power of the message and the ease with which the book flowed through him.

“I was not prepared for how well it went, how easy it was to write,” Kendall said. “I hadn’t even thought about a book. I was just thinking about Joshua’s word. After three weeks, the book was finished. Mind you, it is not the longest book I’ve ever written. Most of my books have 50,000 words, maybe 60,000. This one had only 31,000.”

I asked Dr. Kendall to shed some light about why God is allowing the COVID-19 virus to have such a stranglehold on the world.

“There are some things God does not want us to have all the answers to,” he said. “Let me give an example: Moses saw the burning bush, and the bush didn’t burn up. And the fire just kept going, and the bush didn’t burn up.

“And Moses said I’m gonna find out what’s going on here. And he rushed to the bush and God said, ‘Stop, stop. Don’t come any farther. Don’t come any closer. Take off your shoes. You are on holy ground.’ Moses wanted to figure out how a bush could be on fire and not burn up. And God says, ‘You’re not to know why. So, I apply this to things in life. And I would say the difference between what God has predestined and what He has permitted is holy ground. There are things that we’re not supposed to figure out—we’re to take off our shoes and worship and be content not to know everything,” Kendall said.

We need to pray that our new normal will please God. To become more like Him, we must put off our old ways and pray for a fresh awakening. {eoa}